The L Word
by Ijemanja
Summary: It doesn't happen overnight, but everyone grows up sometime. KristyShannon.


Notes: Written for velvetandlace, in a BSC challenge community on LJ.

Summary: It doesn't happen overnight, but everyone grows up sometime. Kristy/Shannon

The L-Word  
by Ijemana

* * *

Nine year old Kristy Thomas walks up to her brothers playing catch in the yard. She pauses, watching them, scratches at an itchy scab on her knee. 

'Hey Charlie?'

'Yeah, what Kristy?'

The ball travels back and forth a few more times as she thinks about her question.

'What's a 'lesbo'?'

Charlie misses the next catch and down at the other end of the yard Sam is laughing.

'Where'd you hear that word?' Charlie demands.

'At school. I was playing tag with the boys and I bumped into Donna Morrison by accident, and I said sorry, but she got mad anyway and said I was a big lesbo. And I didn't know what it meant but I knew it was bad an' so I called her a fat cow.'

'Good,' Charlie says. 'She sounds like one. Why don't you go get your mitt and come play with us?'

She takes off into the house. He never does answer her question.

x

'Your turn, Kristy,' Mary Anne mumbles, red-faced after confessing just how far, exactly, she and Logan have gone. Mary Anne hates Truth or Dare, but she plays anyway, and that's one of the reasons Kristy likes her so much.

'Truth,' Kristy announces.

'Okay, truth,' Shannon says with a wicked smile, pointing a red vine at Kristy. 'Have you ever thought about kissing a girl?'

'What? No!'

'This is Truth, Kristy Thomas!' Shannon announces dramatically. 'The Gods of Truth or Dare will strike you down if you lie!'

'That _is_ the truth. There _are_ no 'Gods of Truth or Dare'. And you just _wish_ I'd thought about kissing _you_ Shannon, you big lesbian!'

'Kissing you wouldn't make me a lesbian - since when do you count as a girl, Kristy?'

The argument rapidly devolves from there, ending with flying jellybeans and popcorn in everyone's hair. Mary Anne, looking scandalised and amused at the same time, yells at them to stop, until they finally do.

They're fourteen, and every sleepover in the history of fourteen-year-olds always turns out just like this. There'll always be food fights, Truth or Dare, gossip and junk food. And someone will always be dumb enough to fall asleep first.

'No Kristy,' Mary Anne says sternly, 'You can't shave off her eyebrows.'

'Just one?'

'No.'

'Can I write 'hi doofus' on her forehead so she'll see it in the bathroom mirror first thing?'

'Not with a permanent marker, you can't.'

So Kristy goes off to find a magic marker instead, in just the right shade of doofus-green. After Shannon has woken up mid-prank, and stomped grumpily off to the bathroom to wash the 'hi doof' off her face, Kristy turns to Mary Anne thoughtfully.

'Do you think it's really bad to lie in Truth or Dare?'

'I hope not,' she replies.

'Why, what did you lie about?'

Mary Anne just shakes her head, giggling a little and starting to blush pink. Kristy giggles too, suddenly loving her best friend just a little bit more - at least they can be liars together.

When Shannon returns to find them both still snickering to themselves, neither will tell her what's so funny.

x

Shannon's sweet sixteen party and Kristy doesn't know why she agreed to come - she knew it'd be just like this. Some of Shannon's friends are okay, sure, but others eye her outfit. They raise their eyebrows and say: 'You go to SHS?' Like she's supposed to be embarrassed or something.

She feels a tug on her arm and Shannon's there suddenly, pulling her away from the group of boys she's been talking sports with for the past half-hour. Shannon drags her into the huge kitchen where empty bottles and plastic cups litter every surface.

Shannon's a little drunk. She's grinning widely, propped up against the counter. 'Are you having an okay time?'

'Sure,' Kristy says.

'Who were those boys you were talking to?'

'There's a kid out there who's on the state junior league baseball team.'

Shannon rolls her eyes, giggling. 'Trust you to find the only jocks in the room. Every girl out there thinks you're just flirting with them, you know.'

'I don't flirt,' Kristy protests. 'I don't even know how to flirt!'

'I know, Kristy, I know.' Shannon smiles almost fondly. 'You're not like other girls,' she says, swaying towards Kristy, who can suddenly smell the beer on her breath.

Then she can taste it, too, as Shannon takes hold of her arm and pushes her face towards Kristy's. It's slow and a bit sloppy. Shannon's mouth is bitter from the alcohol, but her glossy lips are sticky-sweet. Her fingernails press into Kristy's arm and side where she's holding onto her.

Kristy can't believe what's happening. _She's just drunk,_ an urgent voice in her head warns her. This is just what drunk people do. She doesn't even mean it. The thought makes her ease away from Shannon, who smiles at her.

'Now say, 'happy birthday, Shannon',' she instructs.

'Um, happy birthday, Shannon?' Kristy repeats uncertainly.

'Good. Now, let's go dance!'

She grabs Kristy's hand, and Kristy, who normally won't be caught dead dancing if she can avoid it, lets herself be drawn along till she's in the middle of a bunch of teenagers bumping and grinding to blaring top-40 music. And she dances.

She's just been kissed by Shannon Kilbourne. She could almost be a whole new person.

x

Kristy wipes sweat from her forehead. It's the middle of Summer, and she's trying to make the most of her last few weeks at home before heading off to college, but it's difficult when the weather is so terrible. It's hot and humid, and it looks like it might rain.

When the next ball comes whizzing towards her, she doesn't bother running for it.

'Advantage, Kilbourne,' Shannon yells down the length of the court.

At that moment, thunder rolls across the sky. Kristy looks up at the darkening clouds. 'We're going to have to go in,' she calls back.

'I've almost beaten you!' Shannon protests.

'Our rackets have metal in them. We'll be human lightning rods!'

'One more point and I've won -'

But the argument is cut short as suddenly the sky opens up and fat, heavy drops of rain start falling. They make a run for it.

They head for the pool house, it's closer than the main, but they're already drenched by the time they burst through the sliding doors. The sound of the rain on the roof is almost deafening. Kristy turns inside the open door, looking out across the pool.

Shannon hands her a towel. 'Might cool down some, at least.'

But really, the storm has just made things more steamy - the air feels too warm, too close. Kristy throws her towel aside, closely followed by her soaked t-shirt, shoes and socks. Her sports bra and shorts are plenty modest. After a moment, Shannon, in her little tennis dress, settles for kicking off her shoes and socks too.

They stand in the doorway, hoping for a breeze.

'Dismal,' Shannon pronounces it, raking her fingers through wet, tangled hair.

'What, your serve? Glad you've finally admitted it.'

'Poor, delusional Kristy. Michigan's just a cover, isn't it? You're really being shipped off to a looney bin. I just hope they'll be able to help you and your addled little brain.'

'At least I have one,' Kristy sing-songs back.

Shannon sighs and speaks in a sugar-sweet tone. 'I'm going to miss you so much Kristy!'

Kristy wipes an imaginary tear from her eye. 'Promise we'll be BFF!'

'Let's not go over-board,' Shannon returns dryly.

They grin at each other.

'You think it'll be weird, leaving Stoneybrook?' Kristy wonders aloud. 'You think we'll be totally different when we come back?'

'We're eighteen,' Shannon points out. 'We're supposed to change, change is good. Even you have to grow up sometime, Kristy. You're not my shrimpy little tomboy down the street anymore.'

She smiles at the image. 'Aren't I?'

Shannon shakes her head. 'Well, you're still shrimpy. Actually, you're still a tomboy, too.'

'And I'm still yours,' Kristy tells her. Because she might still be shrimpy and a tomboy, but that doesn't mean she hasn't grown up.

Nine year-old Kristy didn't know what this was. At fourteen, she was too unsure to admit even to herself the things she sometimes thought about. At sixteen she froze, only to melt when a girl kissed her for the first time. None of them could do what Kristy does now, which is sling an arm around Shannon's neck and step up flush against her.

When she leans in, and up a little, and presses her mouth against Shannon's, Shannon lets her. Just like Kristy hoped she would.

'I've been waiting forever to do that,' she says.

'You should have known I'd hardly mind,' Shannon says, her hands resting on the bare skin of Kristy's back. If she's surprised by this, she's not showing it.

'You're always with some boy or other - how should I have known?' Kristy demands before kissing her again. All this time she's just been waiting for her chance. Now she's finally doing this, she has to wonder why she's wasting time talking.

Shannon laughs against her lips. 'You mean you're not psychic? Now you tell me, geez.'

Kristy's got better things on her mind than coming up with a retort as she slides a hand down from Shannon's hip to the short hem of her dress, finds a lot of silky skin there. She moves it over till she's cupping Shannon between her legs, making the other girl gasp.

'Come on,' she says.

There's a daybed inside, and Kristy takes Shannon's hand and leads her over there.

The rain grows gentler, easing off a little. A rumble of thunder sounds in the distance, the storm has passed over.

'I guess this makes us lesbians,' Shannon says. They're stretched out together, one of Kristy's knees between her thighs and she's looking up at Kristy, running fingers through her hair.

'Speak for yourself,' Kristy replies. 'I've _always_ been a lesbian. This just makes us girlfriends.'

'Hey, I never said I'd be your girlfriend.'

Kristy grins at her. 'You will.'

end


End file.
